Friday, April 3, 2009

Button up, Akshay!!

The minute I saw the provocative pic of Action Man Akshay Kumar doing his thing on the ramp , I knew the guy was in mucho trouble. There is something known as propriety. As a desigmer's show stopper for branded jeans ( Levi's), Akshay strode up to his wife Twinkle, seated on the front row, and got her to unbutton his fly while the crowd whistled and roared at this paisa vasool moment. Bad taste? Risque? Exhibitionistic?? You bet. There were several, highly suggestive pelvic thrusts thrown in , along with a generous navel display - the sort of moves male strippers indulge in at those sleazy, dodgy down town clubs in New York. Well, the inevitable happened and Akshay has been slapped with a notice. Moral of the story - button up. Zip up. The fly stays closed. And such antics should be reserved for private bedroom entertainment. Madhu Sapre, who is a complete sweetheart, is still battling that silly court case (Tuff Shoes) years after the company has shut down and the python that covered her naked body, has shed its skin and died! I invited her to dinner last night, and asked about the status of the case. She has to fly all the way from Milan each time the court sets a fresh date. Most times, the case gets adjourned, but she has not been granted an exemption from appearing in person. Can you imagine the costs involved? What a waste of everybody's time. She was to fly out last night itslf, but her lawyer requested her to hang around for a while.... just in case! I love my favourite Marathi Mulgi DEARLY. The case has gone on for over 10 years! Give her a break.********************************************************************************Guess who came to dinner? You already know the answer. Bu you will have to wait for my column on Sunday to find out what I thought of Meera Sanyal. Sorry!!! But I hate repeating myself, which is what I would have done had I blogged separately about it as well. I can tell you, it was a lively evening, with at least ten highly opinionated people in the room, each one with a 'theory'. Never a dull moment. Oh---- one of you wanted to know the dinner menu. It was strictly Thai ( halka and perfect for the soaring mercury levels ). The steamed Betki in a lemon-ginger sauce was to die for, said the guests. The smoked mushrooms with sambol was pretty terrific, too. And so were the clams ( tisrya). I can always count on Amrish Arora, my neighbour and ace caterer, to deliver.************************************************************************************ I absolutely must, must , must thank all of you for the concern shown over my bust shoulder. I cannot but cannot stay away from the blog - sore shoulder or otherwise. I have switched chairs and am using a pc. It is helping , for sure. I realised how precious our daily communication has become when I was faced with the possibility of withdrawing temporarily from this space. I find the blog seriously therapeutic. Half the healing has to do with your messages and comments. I kid you not.So, 'dhanyavad' all. And before I get all senti and weepy.... ciao ciao. Till tomorrow...

37 comments:

Well, for starters I cannot help but congratulate you once again for your delectable writing. Man, it's thoroughly enjoyable. To add to that, the timing of the posts is perfect. And, is it true that Madhu Sapre is still under trial for that ad? Unbelievable! Akshay Kumar if I may say has lost it...I think the recent success has gone a bit too far in his head.

Hi..The part abt akshay was truly great!! such antics shud be carried out behind closed doors.. wonder wht was he thinking??!!

Had no idea tht the tuff shoes controversy trial was still underway. crazy!! seriously, wht a waste of everyones time n resources. now if the ciurts were THT diligenta bt cases tht really needed attention!!

" provocative pic of Action Man Akshay Kumar "yes, Action man thinks that he can get away with any action!!Hey, but what about that ad which shows an action lady doing the same thing in the jeans act????? Or is it the case of WOMEN'S LIB:)

I wonder after reading the comments here this is why we have cases like this happening in India ‘coz of this PC mentality … and then us guys reading shobha de think like this hmmm we have an issue///

GODDDDDDDDDD grow up wat did he do wrong…it wasn’t a public event attended by all sundry …just few fashionistas… I thought he looked cool and did nothing indecent..ok ok I live in UK but this is not gora attitude….wat we see on the screen these days which is totally acceptable is much worst…. Sometimes I wonder the programs that come prime time here that will give few HEARTATTCKS,,,to name few Skins, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives and in real life wat the celebrities do here… I am not saying its right or wrong but why judge… GROW UP

The blog is an delightful snack crunchy and tasty. A shoulder to cry on, but the shoulder is crying with pain. Poor Madhu. How resource consuming to drag it endlessly? That 10years itself is a punishment. She should have approached the Supreme Court.

What a crisp post! It was definitely a case of good shoulder. It set the mood.

But Akshay...! If you dont know where to stop, it's not anyone else's fault. The notice is well deserved. But please, our judiciary sucks, as I wrote in my last comment. Koi help Madhu Sapre & Milind Soman. Why can't there be decisions taken in courts, coz that's what they are supposed to do right ? Decide.

Seems there is more suspense coming our way as far as the rendezvous (spelling?) with Meera is concerned. But yummm the thai food and the entire menu sounds delicious. Betki with lemon/ginger sauce...aaah! All my favorites, thanks for sharing.But unsharing Meera Sanyal sucks. waiting for the 'asli maal'.

Shoulder ko karo salam...! I cannot agree with you more about blogging being therapeutic. I am almost addicted to it. By the time I have done all my rounds of reading blogs, commenting and visiting more and more, my day (and night some times)is gone!

Dear Ms De,Bollywood's influence on the Indian fashion industry has always held a certain fascination for me - fashion shows, shoots, mags... It's always the filmstars who steal the limelight. Is it impossible for them to stick to their own realm (ah yes, that thing called acting)? Or do we just love, want and need them to be the epicentres of everything?

Mr Kumar's fanatics were just plain embarassing! A touch tacky to say the least. I knew he was never the most sophisticated of folk, but really now...the class-o-meter needs to be stepped up a notch.

En plus , Ms Sapre's case is most unfortunate. I read what you wrote about it in Superstar, and I just think it's such a shame that the Indian juridical system has no problem in wasting time, efforts and resources on such petty cases.

I just fail to understand what's the big deal with Akshay Kumar's wife unbuttoning his zippers.

If the NDTV editors and others in the news media can't stay away from showing this clip on national TV then it must be really really good for our society.

Now don't be surprised if 8th grade boys in our schools go and ask a fellow girl in her class to do the same and after few months it becomes a women's right to unbutton someone's zip if she wants to.

What these sh_thols on news channels such as NDTV, Star News, Zee News are showing without any sense of responsibility will come and bite them big time in their own family.

Remember what goes around, comes around.

When Barkha Dutt's daughter or her niece acquires the skills required to unbutton a man's zippers then I think grandpa's in her household and neighbours will have to change gears and wear something similar to "salwar with nada" to protect that feeble old thread hanging inside.

2 cases of how mughda godse and nw akshay kumar are now entangled in a controversy which can only happen in our own country... and best of luck fr ur shoulders we'll miss u too here if u take a break!!!!

aah if our messages heal..then i wud drop in 100 of them..abt this post-as usual tickling..I dunno why Akshay had to do it? and Madhu sapre paying a far harsher price for that..Suggest some change mechanism for India...if U have some

I believe Bollywood folks have gone crazy. The kind of language SRK uses on TV or used by others too really is in not in taste. These guys whine about the press but do not really know what they are speaking in public. The other day there was some TV show and all these stars were present and the host was cracking jokes about gays etc and everyone was laughing including Mrs Jaya B. The public need to put a stop to all this nuisance.

Shobhaa you made my day or should I say night cause I just managed to get my nightly dose of your blog. Can't wait for Sundays coloumn.

AK's act was a cheap publicity stunt sooo wannabe! Has he no credibility as an actor that he needs to resort to such stunts? Guess something similar could be said for Madhu Sapre but puhleease for crying out loud its been simply eons since the ad in question happened why can't it be allowed to rest in the archives & not be brought back over & over again ad nauseam!

So glad you signed off saying till tomorrow. Looking forward to hear what you have to say. Its pertinent practical in short as close as it gets to perfect!

Not sure what's all this fuss about what Akshay did. We see much raunchy/erotic/steamy scenes, stories in our latest bollywood films,soaps and books (which are meant for bedroom only types). so why only punish akshay. why can't we give notice to everyone involved who either does these things, writes such things or caters to such things. I don't think we are any "doodh ka dhula hua", so let's not judge Akshay. I think it's very subjective what's appropriate and what's not.

I always loved Thai food but I am not sure the kind of thai food we get in US is close to real thai food. I never had any thai food when I was in India (heck, I didn't even know that we get thai food in India.)

Good to see that your shoulder is treating you well. Wish you speedy recovery. Hopefully the marathi mulagi will get the verdict soon and will not have to come to aamachi mumbai frequently. But then, that can be her excuse for easting good shrikhand and pooranachi poli :) Zeez, I am getting hungry I guess

Akshay kanna's success has - I think has nothing to do with his acting capabilities but with the desperate need for viewable comedies in bollywood and his ability to deliver them and once you become a star, people simply forget when they are going overboard.

And Indian court system doesnt simply need amendments, it needs quite a bit of revolution to get out of the slouch it is turning to be.

And as for your comment on the blog being therapeutic, yup... nothing is more therapeutic than people.

Some gentleman posted details on AB's blog on who owns our media. If this indeed is true then the indian society is becoming slave of western ills due to the WESTERN MONEY flowing to these TV news channels....I don't know if it's correct but whatever little I know, it does seems to be creditable piece of details.

Read yourself and pass it on to others so that we all can know who is actually behind the scenes and BEAMING THIS FILTH on TV every single day.

NDTV, Star News, CNN-IBN and others ....I dare you not to cross the limit of descency and forget your responsibility...otherwise some of you will be lynched in public one day and your wives and kids will be at the mercy of monster/indescent society which you are building so shamelessley for last 10 years.

Message for Barkha Dutt---Dont ever dare to show those kind of video footage which you shamelessly decided to show on Aklshay Kumar. And just remember I am watching you when I see how soft your voice becomes when you talk to a muslim leader and let him go without asking tough questions. It gives the impression that he knows some dirty secrets about you...

See the post which I have cut and pasted for readers here...==============================

Who owns the media in India ?There are several major publishing groups in India, the most prominent among them being the Times of India Group, the Indian Express Group, the Hindustan Times Group, The Hindu group, the Anandabazar Patrika Group, the Eenadu Group, the Malayalam Manorama Group, the Mathrubhumi group, the Sahara group, the Bhaskar group, and the Dainik Jagran group.

NDTV: Funded by the Gospels of Charity in Spain. Recently it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because the Ex-President Musharraf had allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan. Indian Division CEO Prannoy Roy is the co-brother of Prakash Karat, General Secretary of Communist Party of India. His wife and Brinda Karat are sisters.

India Today which used to be the only national weekly, now bought by NDTV and since then the tone has changed drastically and turned into Hindu bashing.

CNN-IBN: Totally funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches in all over the world with HQ in US. The Church annually allocates $800 million for promotion of its channel. Its Indian heads are Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.

Times group list: Times Of India, Mid-Day, Nav-Bharth Times, Stardust , Femina, Vijaya Times, Vijaya Karnataka, Times now (24- hour news channel) and many more. Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman. ‘World Christian Council‘ does 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi (real name Antonia Maino).

Star TV: Rupert Murdoch, who is supported by St. Peters Pontificial Church, Melbourne.

Hindustan Times: Owned by Birla Group, Presently it is working in Collobration with Times GroupThe Hindu: (not a Hindu religious paper at all , but cruises on the perception - taken over by Joshua Society, Berne, Switzerland. N.Ram’s wife is a Swiss national.

Indian Express: Divided into two groups:The Indian Express and The New Indian Express (southern edition): ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and later is still with the Indian counterpart.

Eeenadu: Still to date controlled by an Indian named Ramoji Rao. Ramoji Rao is connected with film industry and owns a huge studio in Andhra Pradesh .

Andhra Jyothi: The Muslim Party of Hyderabad known as MIM along with a Congress Minister has purchased this Telugu daily.

The Statesman: It is controlled by the Communist Party of India.

Kairali TV: It is controlled by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Mathrubhoomi: Leaders of Muslim League and Communist Leaders have major investment.

Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle: Is owned by a Saudi Arabian Company with its chief Editor M.J. Akbar. (an excellent journalist).

Shobhaa, Thanks for continuing your blog. Here is an interesting article / news today of Hollwood stars saving lives through this new medium of communication with their fans...Inspiring - facebook, blogs, twitter, all these new instant communication technologies are breaking huge barriers, and ending the anarchy of tabloid journalism.

Demi Moore used her Twitter account to save the life of a suicidal woman.

A woman sent the actress a message on the social networking site Friday that said: "Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it doesn't waste time."

In response, Demi re-posted her message on her own Twitter page, adding, "Hope you are joking."

She told her followers in the post that she just couldn't let the message go unnoticed.

"Everyone I was very torn about responding or retweeting that woman's post but felt uncomfortable just letting it go," Moore tweeted.

See photos of today's top celeb news stories.

Some of the 380,000 followers of Moore (her Twitter name is mrskutcher, after her husband Ashton Kutcher) responded to her post, saying that they had reached out to police.

"The twitterverse is on the case just called silicon valley pd to report this woman many others had called. fingers crossed," one user wrote in a post.

A rep for the San Jose Police Department said they "received several phone calls" about the woman starting at 3 a.m. on Friday, Access Hollywood reports. Police were able to locate the woman, who had not yet hurt herself.

Moore and Kutcher were both thankful when they found out the woman was safe.

Kutcher tweeted: "Wifey reported a suicide attempt based on a at reply tweet she got and saved someones life. The woman is in the hospital now."

Moore also thanked her followers for their help.

"Thanks everyone for reaching out to the San Jose PD i am told they are aware and no need to call anymore. I do not know this woman," she wrote. "I am inspired by the enormous response of humanity here and thank you..."

She added most recently: "Today was a prime example of the power of collective consciousness and our incredible ability to create change when we come together!"

You should Amitji's recent blog post. Its a huge dissertation on how he is being wronged by the press and his response to TOI. Where does he find time and energy to prepare such a response?

I say he should start twittering and forget the A*holes who keep attacking him, he is bring them on by responding. This new medium of communication is the future without intermediaries and direct to your readers and fans!

Akshay’s act definitely in bad taste. Putting your private moments for public display is making a million tongues wag. And somehow with your wife, its like disrespecting her. Totally not cool! Btw I wonder what she was thinking!! :P

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